Uganda: Branding Cotton, Sesame & Vanilla

• Author: Kristin Sellefyan
• Position: Freelance Journalist
• Pages: 8-11

p. 8 2012 | 3

How is intellectual property (IP) useful to agricultural producers?

I met with various Ugandan far mers involved in an ongoing

WIPO branding initiative to nd out.

Agriculture is the most impor tant sector of Uganda’s economy,

employing 80 percent of its work forc e. In light of this, the

country is taking steps to boo st the value of three as yet un-

derexploited agricultural products – namely, cotton, sesame

and vanilla – to increase asso ciated trade revenue using IP

tools. “The special interest of th is project, which is part of a

WIPO initiative to promote business develo pment in develop-

ing and least developed c ountries, is that through the use of

appropriate IP tools and brandin g strategies, we will support

local communities in their economic and social development,”

explains Francesca Toso, manager of the WIPO projec t.

For Agaba S. Raymond, from the Ministr y of Tourism, Trade

and Industry, cotton, sesame and vani lla are obvious choices.

“As a country, we’re looking at what we can market… and

what can improve the incomes of the pe ople. Uganda being

agricultural, we are denitely looking at the agricultural products

we have, asking if given products have a mar ket – regional

and international – and what potentia l they have to compete

or even to develop.”

COTTON FARMERS AR E RARING TO GO

Introduced to Uganda in the earl y 20th century, cotton is the

country’s second most impor tant export crop, generating

income for some 2.5 million people. Get achew Mengistie, an

Ethiopian IP lawyer, former Director General of the Ethiopian

Intellectual Proper ty Ofce and WIPO c onsultant who was

instrumental in obtaining tra demarks for Ethiopian coffe e

producers, says that “Uganda n cotton is even, smooth as silk

and has this bright, white bright c olor, which is demanded by

customers. It doesn’t need any chemi cals to have that color.”

While these qualities a re well known to buyers on the interna-

tional market, Ugandan cotton prod ucers do not benet from

the full commercial valu e of this quality good, which continues

to be sold as a commodity rather than a premium product.

Obtaining a certi cation mark for Ugandan cot ton will go a

long way in enabling produce rs to command higher prices on

the international market.

The North Nile zone in no rthwestern Uganda is known fo r pro-

ducing high-quality cotton. Richard Parwot, a lawyer, founder

of the rural development coo perative UNACOFF, and cotton

ginnery owner, explains that, in additio n to its rich soil, the region

boasts many farmers who a re eager to develop. Mr. Parwot

UGA N DA: branding

cotton, sesame & vanilla

Enabling small-scale farmers and producers to lever-

age the comme rcial value of t heir produ cts is key to

enhancing rural livelihoods in developing countries. In

the context o f the “IP and Produc t Branding for Busi ness

Development ” initiative und er its Development Age nda,

WIPO has been wo rking with a range of g overnment and

private stakeholders in Uganda – including the Cotton

Development O rganisat ion (CDO); UNACOFF, a rural

developmen t cooperati ve; Farmnet Ltd., a co mpany

working wit h small farme rs to produc e quality s esame

for the food an d pharmaceu tical ind ustries; a nd the

Mukono Vanilla , Spices and Ho rticul ture Cooper ative

Society – to s upport t heir effor ts to enhan ce the value

of their pro ducts using variou s intellectual pr operty (IP)

tools relevan t to branding (e.g . certic ation marks, col-

lective mar ks and trademarks). WIPO M agazine invited

Kristin S elleyfan, who ha s lmed a documenta ry on the

project, to g ive her pers pective on wh at this init iative

means to prod ucers of thr ee high-qu ality Uga ndan ag-

ricultural products -cotton, sesame and vanilla.

By Kristin Sellefyan,

Freelance Journalist

O : e local varie ty of sesame (simsim) gr own in Uganda’s

North Nile Zone i s said to have the hi ghest oil content in t he world.